Challenges and opportunities in collaborative approaches to responding to intimate partner violence: insights from social workers and police in Sweden

ABSTRACT

This qualitative study explores the opportunities and challenges of collaboration experienced by social workers and police officers when dealing with cases of intimate partner violence (IPV) and stalking. The study aims to examine their collaborative approaches in risk assessment and risk management by identifying the structures, supports, and foundations crucial for effective collaboration. Our data, collected from twelve interviews and one focus group interview with social workers and police officers, reveals that collaboration was facilitated by assigning specific roles to involved parties, proximity, structure and professionalism. These key factors emerged as crucial and contributing to the effectiveness of the collaborative efforts. Practitioners should consider integrating these key elements into their practices to enhance and improve collaboration when addressing cases of IPV and stalking. The study underscores the need for a well-defined framework and support structures to optimise the collaborative response to such complex and sensitive issues.

KEYWORDS:

• Intimate partner violence
• social workers
• police
• collaboration
• risk assessment
• risk management

Acknowledgments

We would like to thank Professor Åsa Källström at Örebro University for her valuable contribution to the collection of a portion of our empirical data through the focus group interview. Additionally, we extend our thanks to all participants in our interviews for generously sharing their thoughts and experiences.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by FORTE – Swedish Research Council for Health, Working life and Welfare.

Notes on contributors

Anna-Karin L. Larsson

Anna-Karin L. Larsson is a Senior Lecturer in Social Work at Örebro University, Sweden, with a PhD in History. Her research areas encompass historical studies on the health of children and youth, along with social science research on intimate partner violence and violence involving girls. Currently, she is conducting research within the Risksam programme, where she explores the roles of police officers and social workers in the risk assessment and management of domestic violence and stalking, with a specific focus on rural perspectives. Another area of keen interest for her is understanding the significance of risk management for women affected by these issues. [email protected]

Helén Olsson

Helén Olsson is a Senior Lecturer in Social Work and holds a PhD in Health Science from Karlstad University, Sweden. She has more than twenty years of experience in operational social work in social services. She has been involved in the RISKSAM programme on the implementation of a new model for the collaboration between the police and social services when it comes to intimate partner violence and stalking. Moreover, her research focuses on honour-based violence, victim support and risk assessment. Another area of interest is evidence-based practice and implementation processes and their importance for an organisation. [email protected]; [email protected]

Susanne J. M. Strand

Susanne J. M. Strand is a Professor of Criminology at Örebro University, Sweden. She is also an adjunct at the CFBS - Centre for Forensic Behavioural Science at Swinburne University of Technology in Melbourne, Australia. She researches risks and risk management of violence in different contexts, with applied criminology as the academic base. Her current research concerns risk management for intimate partner violence, stalking and honour-based violence, where her longitudinal research programme RISKSAM (2019-2025) is conducted in collaboration with the police and the social service. [email protected]